In conventional liquid crystal displays (“LCDs”), backlights emit source light that is modulated by liquid crystal pixels to generate an image on the LCD. However, routing layers, electronics, color-filters, polarizers, diffusers, and other optical layers included in the LCD result in a very small percentage (e.g. 5%) of the source light from the backlight that is actually transmitted as the image on the LCD. In addition to backlight efficiency, the contrast ratio and viewing angle of LCDs must be considered when designing the displays. The contrast ratio and viewing angle of LCDs requirements vary based on the context in which the LCD may be used. Optimizing an LCD for a particular viewing angle is desirable and can yield meaningful gains in backlight efficiency.